If you live in one of five states with no laws preventing the private possession of dangerous wild animals, there’s no telling what kind of safety threats are looming in your own neighborhood.

Captive wild and exotic animals have unique and extremely complex needs that are difficult, if not impossible, for individuals to provide. Pictured above, an African lion in the wild. Photo by Vanessa Mignon.

Dozens of Milwaukee residents reported seeing a lion running loose, spurring a media frenzy this week. One blurry image captured on video in a resident’s backyard suggests this could be a young male or adult female African lion. People are so fearful and on edge that one man mistakenly shot and injured a pit bull dog, thinking it was the lion.

It shouldn’t take a tragedy before Wisconsin, and the other remaining holdout states of Alabama, Nevada, North Carolina, and South Carolina, enact common-sense laws to prevent reckless people from putting entire communities at risk by keeping dangerous wild and exotic pets. continue reading…

The Truth Behind Trophy Hunting and Conservation

This past March, the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service approved the request to import “trophies” of two American hunters. These “trophies” will be the remains of two dead black rhinos after a scheduled hunt in Namibia.

Mother and baby rhino; image courtesy Animal Blawg.

Black rhinos are listed as critically endangered under the Endangered Species Act (ESA). Therefore, approving such a request requires that the import will enhance the species’ survival. Since 2003, Namibia has enforced the Black Rhino Conservation Strategy, which authorizes the killing of five male rhinos annually to stimulate population growth. When considering the request, the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service experienced an “unprecedented” level of public involvement.

Rhinos are not the only animals targeted in these trophy hunts. All megafauna of the African ecosystem are available for the hunt. The African lion population has been in a serious decline, prompting individuals and organizations to demand that the species be listed as endangered under the kendall-jones-huntingESA. Studies have shown that trophy hunting is a direct cause to this decline, albeit not the only cause.

Trophy hunting has come under severe criticism by environmentalists, animal rights activists, and the general public. Trophy hunters, like those involved in the Black Rhino Conservation Strategy, claim that their hunting promotes the conservation of these species and greatly benefits the local economies of poorer African countries. However, the conservationist reasoning for trophy hunting has not survived the scrutiny of recent study. continue reading…

Thirty-three Happy Homecomings and One Heartbreaker

— Our thanks to Animal Blawg, where this post originally appeared on March 17, 2015.

Anyone who works in the animal rights arena knows that a single day–nay, a single minute–can feature the most jubilant high and the utmost despairing low.

Image courtesy Animal Blawg.

One emotion follows on the heels of the other as news randomly enters your world: humans at their most compassionate and generous best–vigorously turning the wheels of justice for animals; humans at their most uncaring and depraved worst–deliberately evil monsters or indifferent agents of neglect, suffering, and death. How on earth to reconcile this?

This very scenario played out recently with good news about South American circus lions–33 of them (9 from Columbia; the rest from Peru)–who are being prepared to embark on the biggest airlift of its kind to The Wild Animal Sanctuary, a 720-acre refuge in Keenesburg, CO (video). Peru, as you might recall, banned wild animal circus acts in 2011, with the bill’s legislative champion inviting “parliamentarians from all countries to follow the example of Peru and ban wild animals in circuses, ending the suffering of animals.” Congressman Jose Urquizo went on to say, “That will make us a more modern and civilized society” (source). It’s taken a while to shutdown and confiscate every last wild animal, but it has come to pass. continue reading…

by Jeffrey Flocken, Regional Director, North America, International Fund for Animal Welfare (IFAW)

—Our thanks to IFAW and the author for permission to republish this article, which first appeared on their site on January 7, 2015.

When the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service (USFWS) proposed listing African lions as threatened under the Endangered Species Act in October, we praised the decision and the consequences it will have for American trophy hunters with the king of the jungle in their crosshairs.

African lion. Image courtesy of IFAW.

Barring any changes to USFWS’s proposal following the 90-day comment period, we’ll soon have another reason to celebrate: Lion meat, like lion steaks and lion tacos, will no longer be available for purchase on the U.S. market.

Yes, until African lions are officially listed as a threatened species, it will be perfectly legal to buy or sell their meat.

Washington, D.C.—According to Born Free USA, a global leader in animal welfare and wildlife conservation, the world has become a scary place for many wild animals. In advance of Halloween, the organization highlights 13 of the scariest facts concerning wildlife today.

Adam M. Roberts, CEO of Born Free USA, says, “These are some of the blackest times we have ever seen for tigers, lions, rhinos, and elephants. Some of these species may face extinction not in my daughter’s lifetime, but in my own. Furthermore, we have a horrific epidemic still going on with exotic animals being kept as pets and for entertainment purposes, which is not only inhumane, but also a severe public safety issue. We have more to be afraid of from private ownership of big cats than black cats this Halloween.”

"Service Animal" Scammers (New Yorker): An increasing number of your neighbors have been keeping company with their pets in human-only establishments simply by claiming that the creatures are their licensed companion animals and are necessary to their mental well-being.